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Table of Contents
Title
Making Electromagnets
Broad Question
How do you make a electromagnet?
Specific Question:
What is the effect of a wire getting wrapped around a nail on the number of paperclips getting picked up by the nail?
Hypothesis:
It is hypothesized that wrapping a wire around a nail 25 times will pick up more paper clips.
Graph of Hypothesis
Variables
Independent Variable: How many times we wrapped the wire around the nail.
Dependent Variable: How many paperclips, measure the mean of paperclips we pick up in ten sec in each wrap then convert it to grams.
Variables That Need To Be Controlled:
same battery
same wire
same nail
same paperclips
same masking tape
Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation
Potential Problems And Solutions
Battery Gets hot
Safety Or Environmental Concerns
Shocked
Pocked
Burned
Experimental Design
(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)
Resources and Budget Table
Detailed Procedure
Steps:1. Materials:
2. Put on gloves and safety work goggles
3. Cut the wire 50 centimeters long
4. Have an adult shave 2 cm of covering from the ends of the wire so it’s copper on the ends
5. Make the wire straight
6. Measure 25 cm from the end of the wire, mark it with a pencil or marker
7. Hold wire on top of nail at 25 cm
8 wrap the wire around the nail 5 times tight.
6. Put one side of the wire on the positive terminal of the nine volt battery, put a piece of scotch tape on the wire to hold it.
7. Put the other side of wire on the negative terminal, put a piece of scotch tape on the wire to hold it.
8. Have someone hold the battery while you pick up paper clips with the nail that has become a magnet. To do this, hold the end that doesn’t have any wire wrapped around it and place the pointy end into the pile of paper clips.
9. Lift the nail slowly until the pointy end is 10 centimeters above the the table. Have a volunteer take pictures and videos during experiment.
10. Set a timer for ten seconds then count how many paper clips stayed on the nail.
11. Record how many paper clips are on the nail.
12. Repeat steps 8-11 ten times.
13. Take the wire off the battery.
14. Wrap the wire five more times around the nail for a total of 10 times.
15. Reattach the wire to the battery.
16. Repeat steps 8-11 ten times.
17. Wrap the wire five more times around the nail for a total of 15 times.
18. Repeat steps 8-11 ten times.
19. Wrap the wire five more times around the nail for a total of 20 times.
20. Repeat steps 8-11 ten times.
Data Table
Graphs
Photos
Results
The average number of paperclips picked up for the 5 wraps was 1.3. The average number of paperclips for the 10 wraps was 1.1. The average number of paperclips picked up for the 15 wraps was 1. The average number of paperclips picked up for the 20 wraps was 1. The average number of paperclips picked up for the 25 wraps was 0.7. The smallest number of wraps picked up the biggest number of paper clips.
Conclusion
The experiment was designed to see how many paperclips the nail can pick up. The results show that the more wraps of the wire on the nail, the less paperclips get picked up. The average paper clips picked up by the 5 wraps was 1.3, the 10 wraps was 1.1, the 15 wraps was 1, the 20 wraps was 1, the 25 wraps was 0.7.
Discussion
The experiment question was “What is the effect of a wire getting wrapped around a nail on the number of paperclips getting picked up by the nail?” The experiment results didn’t answer the experiment question. It wasn’t answered because the more times we wrapped it, it picked up less paperclips and the less wraps the more paperclips the nail picked up. It was hypothesized that wrapping a wire around a nail 25 times would pick up more paperclips. The hypothesized was wrong 5 wraps had greats mean. Ten trial showed that five wraps picked up the most paperclips then all the other wraps. A nail with more wraps around it picked up fewer paperclips.
The wraps showed that that when the wire gets wrapped around the nail more time the number of paperclips lowered. When you wrapped the wire less times the number got higher for example 5 wraps got 1.3 and 25 wraps got 0.7. The results happened because when the wire got wrapped around the nail got less times around the nail the more paperclips got picked up. The more wraps the less paperclips got picked up.
The challenges were that on 25 wraps were hard to wrap and hook up. The problems with the battery getting hot and popping. The challenges and problems were that on 25 wraps you couldn’t hook it up on the battery. Some questions are to make the wire longer so on 25 wraps you can hook it up to the battery.
Background Research
wrap some insulated __copper__ wire around an __iron__ core. attach a battery to the wire, an electric current will begin to flow and the iron core will become magnetized. When the battery is disconnected, the iron core will lose its magnetism.How do I make an electromagnet?
wrap some insulated __copper__ wire around an __iron__ core. attach a battery to the wire, an electric current will begin to flow and the iron core will become magnetized. When the battery is disconnected, the iron core will lose its magnetism.
__http://education.jlab.org/qa/electromagnet.html__
1. Try not to overlap the wires.
2.
3. Now remove about an inch of the plastic coating from both ends of the wire and attach the one wire to one end of a battery and the other wire to the other end of the battery. See picture below. (It is best to tape the wires to the battery - be careful though, the wire could get very hot!)
4. Put the point of the nail near a few paper clips and it should pick them up!
NOTE: Making an electromagnet uses up the battery somewhat quickly which is why the battery may get warm
moving electrons causes electrical and magnetism
1. electromagnet made by wrapping wire around a nail and attaching it to electricity
2. when electricity goes through a wire it makes a magnetic field
3. when you keep wrapping wire around the nail the magnetic field gets stronger
4. to make the electromagnet even stronger
- wrap wire around the nail more times
and
- use a battery with bigger voltage
References
"Make an Electromagnet - Science Bob." Science Experiments, Videos, and Science Fair Ideas at Sciencebob.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://www.sciencebob.com/experiments/electromagnet.php>.__http://education.jlab.org/qa/electromagnet_is.html__
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet>.
"Universe Today — Space and astronomy news." Universe Today — Space and astronomy news. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://www.universetoday.com/>.
__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volt__
__http://emandpplabs.nscee.edu__
Pollick, Michael. "wiseGEEK: clear answers for common questions." wiseGEEK: clear answers for common questions. N.p., 28 Nov. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://www.wisegeek.org>.
"HowStuffWorks "Learn how Everything Works!"." HowStuffWorks "Learn how Everything Works!". N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://www.howstuffworks.com>.
Abstract
The purpose of this experiment was to show how the number of wire wraps around a nail affected the how many paperclips the electromagnet could pick up? It was hypothesized that 25 wraps would pick up the the most paperclips. The wire was wrapped around the nail different number of wraps. The wire was hooked up to the battery by masking tape. The 5 wraps picked up the most paperclips with an average of 1.3. The fewest wraps picked up the most paperclips.